Dr. Lorna Carson

Associate Professor in Applied Linguisti (C.L.C.S.)

ARTS BUILDING

Lorna Carson is Associate Professor in Applied Linguistics and Director of Postgraduate Teaching and Learning in the School of Linguistic, Speech and Communication Sciences. She is the founding Director of the Trinity Centre for Asian Studies, a multidisciplinary teaching and research centre which brings together the university's expertise in Japanese, Korean and Chinese Studies. Dr Carson's research on language learning addresses issues located at the interface between individual and societal multilingualism, with particular attention to second language learning, language policy, pedagogy and assessment. Her recent work focuses on urban contexts of mobility and migration in Europe and East Asia. She holds a B.A. (Mod.), M.Phil. and Ph.D. from Trinity College Dublin, and an M.A. from the College of Europe, Bruges. In 2015 she was elected a Fellow of Trinity College Dublin. Her publications include "The Multilingual City: Vitality, Conflict and Change", co-edited with Lid King (2016, Multilingual Matters); "Language Learner Autonomy: Policy, Curriculum, Classroom", co-edited with Breffni O'Rourke (2010, Peter Lang), and "Multilingualism in Europe: A Case Study" (2003, 2005, Peter Lang). She is a former President of IRAAL, the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics (2014-2017). Her teaching and postgraduate supervision include second language curricula, language assessment and multilingualism.

The E-LENGUA project (2015-2018) is funded by the European Commission's Erasmus+ programme, and investigates how to optimize the use of ICTs in language learning and teaching. The universities in this consortium are the University of Salamanca, the University of Poitiers, the University of Heidelberg, the University of Coimbra, the University of Cairo, the University of Bologna and Trinity College Dublin. The research team from Trinity College (Lorna Carson, Breffni O'Rourke and Alison Moore) are investigating how to improve online assessment of language proficiency, particularly in virtual learning environments.

European identity formation is identified as an overarching theme with three dimensions of more focused research (patterns of European identity and citizenship among students studying courses in the area of EU Studies eliminating the constraint of knowledge deficit and information about European affairs), identities in urban contexts (the European multilingual city) and the issue of emerging new European young researchers' identities (exchanges and doctoral studies - an international study of processes and outcomes in the EU). A core task of the network is to build knowledge and become a reference point for researchers in these EU-related themes. The target group of the JM Network are young researchers (doctorate students, potential doctorate students and young researchers who have obtained a PhD degree in the past 5 years). Their profile is not limited to EU Studies departments. The Network aims at involving doctorate students and young researchers from different scientific areas through the open calls for participation and through inviting doctorate students from other scientific fields. The Network will run 3 summer schools as well as a range of events (seminars, workshops, conferences and final conference). The co-teaching activities are developed with the view of enhancing academic exchanges and cooperation.

The LUCIDE network is a consortium of European university and city partners with experience in researching multilingualism in urban settings, representing 13 European cities and two leading partner institutions in Canada (OLBI) and Australia (University of Melbourne). I am the work package leader for LUCIDE's research activities, coordinating a team of 60 researchers across the network in primary and secondary data collection. Through the network's workshops, city reports, seminars and other activities, LUCIDE aims to suggest some viable and convincing policy directions for the range of cities involved in its network where what is often described as a negative (the 'problem' of diversity) may be viewed as a solution for the future, with an impact beyond the partners and cities involved. (Funded by the European Commission Lifelong Learning Programme, KA2, 2011 - 2014.) Website: www.urbanlanguages.eu

Funding Agency

European Commission

Programme

EU Lifelong learning programme (KA2)

Person Months

36

Project Title

Investigating the Korean multilingual landscape.

From

June 2013

To

August 2013

Summary

Empirical study of the Korean semiotic landscape. The project is located within the interdisciplinary field of linguistic landscaping. It problematizes what is often taken for granted, indeed ignored, in the urban multilingual landscape. The study takes English and other European language borrowings as a principal unit of analysis, and investigates their usage in the visual public spaces of four key spheres: education, public/civic sphere, economic and community/private sphere. Some of the findings of this research project are published in: Carson, L. (2014), An exploration of the roles of English in societal and individual multilingualism in Korea, in R. Bertoni (Ed.) and Carson, L. (forthcoming book chapter), English fever: Problematising English language proficiency testing in South Korea.

Funding Agency

The Academy of Korean Studies/한국학중앙연구원

Project Title

Multilingualism in Northern British Columbia: People, Place and Belonging

From

2012

To

2013

Summary

This project examines multilingual policy and practices in Northern British Columbia, employing a mixed-methods research design, including archival research, investigation of linguistic landscape and ethnographic research. Conducted during my research sabbatical at the University of Northern British Columbia in 2012, the project gathered primary data on the connections and interaction between diverse language varieties and communities in the city of Prince George and surrounding area.

Manuscript reviewer for Multilingual Matters, Innovation in Language Learning and Teaching, the International Journal of Bilingualism, the Journal of Language, Culture and Curriculum, Language Learning in Higher Education. Book endorsement, Routledge

Carson, Lorna, The E-Lengua Project: Using 'Pecha Kucha' to assess spoken production in English, Annual Conference of the Irish Association for Applied Linguistics, University of Limerick, 18 November 2017, 2017,
Notes: [https://ulsites.ul.ie/mlal/iraal-annual-conference-2017],
Oral Presentation,
PUBLISHED
TARA - Full Text

Carson, Lorna. Invited guest lecture., Motivational goal-setting: How to use the many resources contained within the Common European Framework of Reference for Languages., International Symposium "The Future of Foreign Language Education in a Global World: Exploring Motivation and Autonomy, University of Toyama, Japan, 19 February, 2017, Center for International Education and Research, University of Toyama,
Notes: [http://www.ier.u-toyama.ac.jp/english/event/pdf/brochure_e.pdf http://www.ier.u-toyama.ac.jp/english/event/pdf/carson_e.pdf],
Invited Talk,
PUBLISHED

My research focuses on multilingualism and language learning. I mostly employ qualitative methods in my work to understand the features and contexts of individual and societal multilingualism, and to investigate successful individual language learning and programme provision in European and East Asian contexts. Given the centrality of language to human identity, interaction and social activity, multilingualism encompasses a broad spectrum of cultural, political and social norms. The key themes in my research include: . Formal language learning provision and the language classroom (policy and pedagogy) . Tools for successful language programme specification and delivery, including the Council of Europe's Common European Framework of Reference, the European Language Portfolio . Assessment and certification in second/foreign language development . Provision of and participation in language learning throughout the lifespan (home languages, minority, heritage, second/foreign, etc.).